Bed retailer Dreams has announced two new appointments with Emma Long as its new Chief Customer Officer and Shelly Dickinson as the business’ first Head of People.
Emma brings over 25 years of experience in the retail sector and will be responsible for Dreams’ Retail and Customer Service teams. She joins Dreams from the DFS Group, where she spent the last five years working at Executive level. Emma was responsible for leading the Dwell retail business function as both Chief Operating Officer and Retail Director, before most recently leading the customer transformation strategy for DFS as its Customer Change Director. Prior to her time with DFS, Emma held Retail Director roles with Dixons Carphone.
Shelly Dickinson, Dreams’ first Head of People, will be responsible for spearheading Dreams’ People-First strategy. Shelly has 15 years’ experience in HR roles within the retail industry, having worked for both Tesco and McColl’s Retail Group. Most recently, she was the Head of People for McColl’s, where she developed and delivered a strategic people plan for 16,000 colleagues. Shelly started her career at Tesco where she spent over 10 years across various HR roles, including Employee Relations and Change Manager.
Jonathan Hirst said: “I’m delighted to welcome both Emma and Shelly on board at Dreams. Both will be great additions to our Executive team. Emma will play an important role in maintaining Dreams’ relentless focus on our customers, drawing on her wealth of experience from some of the country’s biggest retailers.
“Dreams also wouldn’t be the business it is without our colleagues, which is why we’ve introduced our first Head of People role. Shelly’s depth of experience in delivering successful people strategies for retail businesses will be invaluable, and we look forward to welcoming her and the ideas that she’ll bring to Dreams.”
Emma Long said: “I’ve always admired how Dreams consistently puts the customer at the forefront of everything they do. By listening to customers and putting their needs first, Dreams has created an unrivalled level of customer service. I look forward to working with the Customer Service and Retail teams to continue Dreams’ success.”
Shelly Dickinson said: “I’m incredibly excited to be joining Dreams in this newly created role and to be given the challenge of driving forward the People-First strategy. Dreams’ colleagues sit at the heart of the operation, so it’s a real honour to lead such a fantastic team.”
